Biography of Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu 1711-1775

In 1705 [her father] John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 15] and [her mother] Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 15] were married. She the daughter of [her grandfather] John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough [aged 54] and [her grandmother] Sarah Jennings Duchess of Marlborough [aged 44]. He the son of Ralph Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 66] and Elizabeth Wriothesley Countess Northumberland. They were third cousins.

Around 1711 Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu was born to John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 21] and Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 21].

On 7th July 1730 George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 17] and Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 19] were married. She the daughter of John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 40] and Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 40]. He the son of George Brudenell 3rd Earl Cardigan [aged 44] and Elizabeth Bruce 3rd Countess Cardigan [aged 41]. They were fourth cousin once removed.

On 5th July 1732 [her father-in-law] George Brudenell 3rd Earl Cardigan [aged 46] died. His son [her husband] George [aged 19] succeeded 4th Earl Cardigan, 4th Baron Brudenell of Stonton in Leicestershire. Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 21] by marriage Countess Cardigan.

Around 1735 Gavin Hamilton [aged 12]. Portrait of [her father] John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 45] and [her mother] Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 45], and Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 24].

On 18th March 1735 [her son] John Montagu 1st Baron Montagu was born to [her husband] George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 22] and Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 24].

Before 21st October 1739 [her brother-in-law] William Montagu 2nd Duke Manchester [aged 39] and [her sister] Isabella Montagu Duchess Manchester [aged 33] were married. She by marriage Duchess Manchester. She the daughter of [her father] John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 49] and [her mother] Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 50]. He the son of Charles Montagu 1st Duke Manchester and Doddington Greville Duchess Manchester. They were fourth cousins.

On 29th January 1740 Richard Lumley 2nd Earl Scarborough [aged 53] committed suicide by shooting himself through the roof of the mouth possibly as a result of his having told the [her sister] Dowager Duchess of Manchester [aged 34], who he had intended to marry the following day, a state secret which she then shared with her grandmother Sarah Jennings Duchess of Marlborough [aged 79] who shared it with William Pulteney 1st Earl Bath [aged 55] who shared it with everyone else. His brother Thomas [aged 49] succeeded 3rd Earl of Scarborough, 4th Viscount Lumley, 3rd Baron Lumley. Frances Hamilton Countess Scarborough by marriage Countess of Scarborough. He left his estates to his youngest brother James Lumley [aged 34].

On 4th February 1740 Richard Lumley 2nd Earl Scarborough was buried at the Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair.

In 1743 [her brother-in-law] Edward Hussey-Montagu 1st Earl Beaulieu [aged 22] and [her sister] Isabella Montagu Duchess Manchester [aged 37] were married. She the daughter of [her father] John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 53] and [her mother] Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 53].

On 29th May 1743 [her daughter] Elizabeth Montagu Duchess Buccleuch was born to [her husband] George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 30] and Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 32]. She married 2nd May 1767 her fourth cousin Henry Scott 3rd Duke Buccleuch, son of Francis Scott and Caroline Campbell 1st Baroness Greenwich, and had issue.

On 6th July 1749 [her father] John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 59] died without surviving male issue. Duke Montagu extinct. His estates were inherited by his daughter Mary [aged 38] and her husband George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 36] who changed his name to Montagu from Brudenell. Monument in St Edmund's Church, Warkton [Map]. Sculpted by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 46]. Erected by his widow, Mary Churchill [aged 59], the daughter of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, who stands at the left hand side of the monument.

On 14th May 1751 [her mother] Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 61] died. Monument in St Edmund's Church, Warkton [Map]. Sculpted by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 48]. Erected by her Daughter, Lady Mary Montagu. The monument is adorned with figures representing the three fates of Clotho, Atropos and Lachesis, arranged to show the cutting of Mary's life thread, and Lachesis' dismay at it being cut short. Three putti also figure on the monument, one of whom holds the spindle from which the thread was cut.

Clotho: Clotho is one of the Three Fates. She spins the thread of human life.

Atropos: Atropos is one of the Three Fates. She cuts the thread of human life.

Lachesis: Lachesis is one of the Three Fates. She measures the thread of human life.

In 1760 [her brother-in-law] James Brudenell 5th Earl Cardigan [aged 34] and Anne Legge Baroness Brudenell Deene were married. He the son of [her father-in-law] George Brudenell 3rd Earl Cardigan and [her mother-in-law] Elizabeth Bruce 3rd Countess Cardigan. They were half fourth cousin once removed.

On 17th February 1761 [her brother-in-law] Thomas Brudenell 1st Earl Ailesbury [aged 31] and Susanna Hoare Countess Ailesbury [aged 28] were married. She by marriage Countess Ailesbury. He the son of [her father-in-law] George Brudenell 3rd Earl Cardigan and [her mother-in-law] Elizabeth Bruce 3rd Countess Cardigan.

On 5th November 1766 [her husband] George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 54] was created 1st Duke Montagu. Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 55] by marriage Duchess Montagu. He was the son-in-law of the last Duke of the previous creation [her father] John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu.

On 2nd May 1767 [her son-in-law] Henry Scott 3rd Duke Buccleuch [aged 20] and Elizabeth Montagu Duchess Buccleuch [aged 23] were married at Montagu House Whitehall Palace. She by marriage Duchess Buccleuch. She the daughter of George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 54] and Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 56]. He the son of Francis Scott and Caroline Campbell 1st Baroness Greenwich [aged 49]. They were fourth cousins. He a great x 3 grandson of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland.

On 11th April 1770 [her son] John Montagu 1st Baron Montagu [aged 35] died unmarried. Baron Montagu of Boughton in Northamptonshire extinct.

On 1st May 1775 Mary Montagu Duchess of Montagu [aged 64] died. Monument in St Edmund's Church, Warkton [Map]. Sculpted by Peter Mathias Van Gelder [aged 33]. Mary's monument is more decorative that her parent's; Rococo. The composition of the monument centres around an ornate funerary Urn, which stands upon a Pedestal containing an inscription to Mary. To the right sits a grief stricken woman, inconsolable over the loss of an aristocrat considered a great benefactor to the poor and needy. In her left arm she cradles a baby, and a second, tearful child sits at her feet. To the right of the woman is that of an older woman draped in a shawl, who gently caresses the hand of the first babe. To the left of the Urn, an angel comforts the mourners, pointing to heaven.

On 23rd May 1790 [her former husband] George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 77] died. Duke Montagu extinct. His brother [her former brother-in-law] James [aged 65] succeeded 5th Earl Cardigan, 5th Baron Brudenell of Stonton in Leicestershire. Elizabeth Waldegrave Countess Cardigan [aged 31] by marriage Countess Cardigan. His grandson Henry [aged 13] succeeded 2nd Baron Montagu of Boughton in Northamptonshire.

Adeline Horsey Recollections. The wicked Countess and her lover lived at Cliveden [Map] - "the bower of wanton Shrewsbury and of love" - and her spirit is supposed to haunt the beautiful riverside retreat, but I am thankful to say she has never appeared in the old home of her innocent girlhood. Her portrait by Sir Peter Lely hangs in the White Hall at Deene, and is a fine example of the artist's well-known very décolleté style of "robes loosely flowing, hair as free", with the usual mise en scène of a beauty of Charles II's time. The [her former father-in-law] third Earl of Cardigan was Master of the Buckhounds to Queen Anne; he married a [her former mother-in-law] daughter of the Earl of Ailesbury, and their [her former brother-in-law] fourth son inherited the Ailesbury title and estates. Lord Cardigan's eldest son married the heiress of the Duke of Montagu in 1766¹. He was a friend of Horace Walpole, the influence of whose pseudo-Gothic tastes may still be seen in the south front of Deene [Map], built at this time, and which now incorporates the great ball-room built for me by my dear husband.

Note 1. Married on 7th July 1730. He was created Duke in 1766.